This group is responsible for the assassination of Israeli Tourism Minister Rehavam Ze'evi in October 2001, a December 2003 suicide attack that killed three Israelis, and the murders of several Americans including wheel-chair bound Leon Klinghoffer, who was pushed off the Achille Lauro cruise ship in the Mediterranean in 1985.

Batarseh was elected to the Bethlehem city council in May 2005 while running on Hamas' slate of candidates. After his election as councilor, he was elected Mayor with the support of three other councilors from the PFLP and five from Hamas. A Dec. 29, 2005 report by Chiesa, a Catholic journal, stated that Batarseh was also supported by Palestinian Islamic Jihad, another group that has perpetrated suicide attacks against Israeli civilians.

Omissions like this deny Wikipedia's readers of important information about Batarseh's career.